Land of Darkness
by Magus Lyina Starshine
Summary: The land of Terraria hasn't always been like this. Once, it was near paradise, before the Darkness came to be. Now, it's a land struggling to survive, a dead land. Until Autumn wakes up, with little to no memory of.. Well, anything. ((Rated T because of in-depth injury descriptions, and paranoia. Reviews always help!))
1. Chapter 1 - Awakening

Chapter 1 - Awakening

_Where am I...? _ Was my first thought as I dizzily awakened from sleep. Around me was a thick forest, lush grass on rich dirt, trees touching the sky with green leaves that danced in a light north breeze. I sat up, and I looked at how I appeared. I wore a midnight black shirt, with jeans, and a light jacket of the same color. I wore sneakers of the same dark color. I noticed my hair was blonde, tied back in a tight ponytail with some in the front brushed over my eye intentionally. I can't tell the features of my face, of course, but my skin was deathly pale.

After looking at how I was, I scanned more of the area around me. To my surprise, behind me was a man in a pale blue shirt and dark blue jeans, with brown hair that sort of stuck up, and he was seated on a rock of fair size. He looked easygoing, with white sneakers and a friendly face, a light smile on it to add. "Hello!" He greeted me eagerly as I stood and brushed off my jeans, which had spots of dirt on them. "Hi?" I replied suspiciously at the man. "I'm your Guide." He stated, as if I would perfectly understand it and not wonder what was going on, and why I don't remember practically anything.

"Well, if you're my guide, mind telling me where the heck I am?" I asked as I eyed him up and down. "You're in Terraria." He stated in the same way as how he told me he was my "guide." I looked at him expectantly, but he apparently didn't get the memo. With a sigh, I asked, "And what's 'Terraria'?" He looked up at me quizzically, and answered, "Well, it's a long story, and you should probably try chopping down some trees to get wood and build a shelter before night comes."

_Huh?_ I wondered as I did a 360-degree look at all the sky-high trees. "How do I do that in less than twelve hours, and I don't even have an axe to even attempt at cutting these down!" The guide looked at me for a moment, and then reached down into a small pouch I didn't realize was there before. He muttered a bit and shifted his hand around the pouch, which his hand couldn't possibly fit in.

"How...?" I was at a loss for words as he pulled out a copper axe, at least it looked coppery to me. "Here's your axe, and I trust you know how to cut down a tree." He told me as he turned the axe so the hilt faced me. I looked up at him, confused, but took the axe nonetheless. It felt lightweight in my hands, just a little heavier than the air itself.

I looked to the sun, which was by now one-fourth of the way to midday, still morning. I looked at the guide once more and asked him, "Isn't there another axe, so you could help me with this, or something?" The guide looked at me and stated simply, "There's only one axe. Do you know how to use it?"

"Well, what's so bad about nighttime, anyway?" I ignored his question and waited for him to answer. His smile wavered a bit. "There're monsters, for one." That answer I was not expecting. I started to panic a bit, and rushed over to the trees to start chopping them down, refusing to give into a panic attack.

The tree was surprisingly easy to cut down. I drove the axe into it, near the bottom, and I cut almost a fourth of it. I smiled slightly, the first smile I've had since waking up only a few minutes ago, at the simplicity of the task. With four or five, I can't remember, more strikes yet another shocking thing happened.

Instead of collapsing, the tree simply dissipated into small pieces of refined wood, leaves, and a few saplings. The guide walked over, and handed me his apparently magic pouch. "Instead of me asking, I'll just go along with it, 'kay?" I told the guide as he sat down on his rock again and looked off into the distance, like he was thinking hard about something.

I reached down to collect everything the tree dropped, and when I looked down, to my surprise there was nothing left of the tree except the wood, and saplings. The leaves and roots were just...Gone. I decided it left less work for me to do and I picked up all the wood and saplings, which I stuffed in my pouch, which held all of it perfectly. "So, what next", I asked the guide. He looked over at me and answered, "Build a house. Even a small shack will do, as long as it's some sort of shelter. Oh! And I should probably tell you my name. I'm Jacob." He told me as he got up, walked over, and put his hand in front of him for a handshake. "Autumn.", I said to him the only thing I remember, my name, and shook his hand.

((This is my first fanfic. Any criticism that could make it better is always appreciated!))


	2. Chapter 2 - Slimes

Chapter 2 - Slimes

"So, I'm guessing that building a house is simple, like cutting down that tree?" I asked Jacob, who simply looked at me and answered, "You might try to gather some gel from the slimes. Combine wood and gel to make a torch!" he ended on an enthusiastic note. "Slimes?" I asked yet another question, and he answered almost immediately after I asked. "Slimes are just what their name implies. Globs of slime. I suggest trying to slay a green one, but try not to touch them with your bare skin, they can sting pretty badly."

"How do I kill them without bare skin if I don't have a weapon...?" I trailed off in my question, thinking of even more to ask later on. He nodded at my apparently magical pouch and told me, "There should be a copper sword in there, if I remember correctly." I looked at the pouch, and noticed a bit more of how it looked. It was a light brown, with a leather strap. It was formatted kind of like a pocket, and it is currently buttoned closed. It's no bigger than a pocket on my jeans. Trust me, they aren't that big.

So, I did the logical thing. I stuck my entire hand -up to my wrist- in the pouch and felt around for the hilt of a sword. I grinned slightly as I pulled it out, but it soon faded when I realized how _weak_ the sword seemed. Barely larger than a knife, but the copper it was forged from shined brightly, clearly not having been used before.

I looked to Jacob and raised my eyebrows, wanting an explanation. He shrugged, and actually got the memo this time. "Hey, it's better than a woodcutting axe. It's pretty fast, too." It did feel lightweight as I weighed it in my hand. I scanned all around me for a slime, and, with what little luck I apparently had, found a green slime.

Jacob was right. The slime was only a glob of slime, just as the name implies. It just...I don't think "standing" would work in this case, but it was just lying there, doing nothing. "Are all monsters like this? It's brain dead." I asked Jacob. "Sadly, no. Lucky for us, green slimes are peaceful, unless you should happen to get in its way when it jumps. Also, you're right in that they are brain dead. All slimes have no brain." He answered my question with a complex answer. I sighed, and just ran over and plunged the sword into the top of the slime just as it started quivering, probably about to jump.

It suddenly exploded into slime, getting all over me, the nearby trees, but not Jacob, who didn't bother to tell me about the explosion part and hid behind a tree as to not get slime on himself, I presume. I glared at him, "You could have told me that would happen!" I exclaimed in anger at him, as he came out from behind a tree. "You never asked." Jacob replied with a small smirk.

I sighed angrily, and realized that there was gel everywhere, and my anger turned into a smile of happiness that I accomplished my goal, however simple it was. Then it disappeared as soon as it had come, for I saw that it was only one piece of gel that I actually could use. Apparently luck doesn't like me anymore.

I groaned as I picked up the only piece of gel, but I was sadly still covered in regular slime, as was the immediate area around me. The position of the sun showed it was almost midday, already. Wow, either I woke in late morning, or it's already been a few hours. I doubt it's the latter. I looked at Jacob, still annoyed with him. Lucky for him, he wasn't smirking anymore, but told me, "_Now_ we can build that house."


	3. Chapter 3 - Moon of Blood

Chapter 3 - Moon of Blood

I raised my eyebrow inquisitively at Jacob, wondering how I was to build an entire house in less than half a day. Then again, with chopping down a sky-high tree in about a minute, then having it explode into already-refined wood, it might be possible. "So, where do I start?" I asked Jacob, starting to trust him.

He looked at me, a single eyebrow raised, as if he couldn't believe that I didn't know how to build a house, and it should be basic knowledge for everyone. "First, you open your pouch." He began in a drawn-out voice that you'd use to teach toddlers, dripping with sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes, and opened my pouch that seemed to be able to hold anything, despite its size. "Next, you put your hand inside the pouch and pull out the wood." Jacob told me in the same tone of voice, going to sit on his rock. I stuck my hand in the simple pouch, taking out wood, and stormed to the clearing, slamming down the wood, one "block" at a time, until I had the structure of a house.

It wasn't until I was complete that I realized that I just made a house that, if I could add a door, a floor, and some furniture, could work. How long did it take? It felt like only a few minutes. I could only stare at it, my jaw dropped in awe. In the corner of my eye, I could see Jacob was impressed, despite being unbelievably obnoxious just a few minutes ago.

The house stood tall, the sun shining against the wood planks, which were apparently oak. How I knew that, I didn't really know, but I waved it off, not really noticing it in the first place. A small place in the front of the house, about the size of a person, was empty, empty of a door. Inside was just shadow, since I haven't made any light sources yet.

I stuck my hand in my pouch and pulled out what looked like a pickaxe. Hey, I guess I'm starting to get the hang of this! It seemed to be the only tool for digging (besides my bare hands, of course) that I could use. Still holding the pickaxe in my right hand, and wood in my left, I stepped over to the inside of my soon-to-be house, and started digging away at the dirt with my pickaxe. Light streamed in through the doorway, lighting up the otherwise dark home. Shadows danced around me, and I wondered, _how the heck do I make a torch?_

Soon enough, I had cleared out a layer of dirt all under the roof of my house. I started placing the wood across to make a floor, similar to how I made the rest of the house. Only a minute or so later, I had made a floor to cover the chocolate-colored dirt. Of course, the house still had no windows, doors, or any type of furnishing.

I turned to the empty doorway, finding Jacob standing there, and I smirked smugly at him. I quickly cleared it from my face, however, after I realized I still needed to ask him how I made a torch and door, and I didn't really want him to be too mad at me to answer my questions, even if he was "the Guide."

"How should I make a door, then?" I squinted my eyes at Jacob, the sun starting to shine through the empty doorway, and decided that my eyes were a great place to hang out. "When you have enough wood, create a workbench. This will allow you to create more complicated things, such as a door." He replied, taking a book seemingly out of nowhere, opened it, and started reading, heading inside the house and sitting down in a corner, apparently reading fine despite the lack of light.

I sighed, put my pickaxe into the pouch, and put all but ten of my wood into my pouch. I smashed the wood that was still in my hands together, hoping that would work. I could see Jacob trying not to laugh at me from the corner of my eye, and decided that I was probably doing it wrong. I groaned, but refused to ask for help, deciding that Jacob would probably give the same vague answer as before.

I separated my hands, and the craziest thing happened. It seemed that I actually _did_ make a workbench, seeing as an object that wasn't all my wood fell to the floor. It was clearly made of wood, but it had short legs, with a line of wood connecting those. It had a flat surface on top, and looking at it made me feel like I could make anything, however complex. I looked at Jacob, and smirked, this time not trying to hide it.

I crouched down to the workbench, since it only was as high as my knees, and pulled out a single piece of wood, along with my only gel. I tried doing the same thing, smashing them together, but then I immediately regretted it. I burning sensation was felt between the palms of my hands, and I cried out in pain, separating my hands as a lit torch fell to the floor. My palms were slightly burnt, and I felt pain flaring out of the burn. It was probably more severe than it looked

Jacob rushed over, picked up the torch before it hit to floor (probably so the house didn't burn down), and looked at my palms, abandoning his book, which I realized was a dictionary. I stood up, still focusing on my palms. "Is that how you make everything? Smash it together?" I asked Jacob through clenched teeth. He shrugged, and reached into his pouch (how many magic pouches does he even have?), replying, "Only workbenches." Jacob then pulled out a glass bottle that was sealed off with a cork, filled with a red liquid.

I looked at the bottle, wondering what it was, but Jacob must've read my expression. "It's a minor healing potion. It heals small wounds." He explained for me. I nodded, quickly grabbed it out of his hands, and drank it. I immediately felt my hands feel less painful, and watch as my skin basically sewed itself back together.

I nodded my thanks to Jacob and handed him back the (now empty) bottle. The only bad part is that I felt sick, like I would vomit any second, and I couldn't handle drinking another potion. I raised my eyebrow at Jacob, in doing so triggered a quick answer from him. "Potion sickness. It only lasts a couple of minutes, don't worry." He apparently loved answering any questions.

I nodded as he handed me the torch, which I placed the bottom on the wall. It stuck perfectly, which I wasn't expecting. Jacob went back to his corner to continue reading his dictionary (why he's reading a dictionary for fun, I'll probably never know), and I stepped over back to the workbench. By now, the sun was already starting to sink on the horizon. Probably should get a door done quickly.

I took out a handful of wood (why they were so tiny, I'll never know that, either), and spread them out across the bench. I started thinking the word, _door_, while staring intently at the wood pieces. I probably looked ridiculous, but it's better than smashing them together. Suddenly, the wood started shaking. I widened my eyes and stepped back, but Jacob didn't notice a thing, or was expecting it.

The pieces of wood started floating and coming together, stacking on top of each other in a door-like form. No sooner than they had started shaking, there was a door right on the bench, perfectly fitting the empty doorway. I took a single step forward, and picked up the door by its edges. It was surprisingly lightweight. I carried it over to the doorframe, and placed it. It looked flimsy and weak, but it was better than nothing. The potion sickness suddenly wore off, and I felt better, luckily.

I only had a few pieces of wood left, but with the remaining wood pieces, I used the same procedure I did to make a door, but this time for a chair. Why a chair, I didn't know, but I placed it in the corner opposite from Jacob. By now, however, the sun was disappearing down the horizon, turning the sky blood red.

Suddenly, I heard a whisper in my head as the sun went away. "_The Blood Moon is rising…"_ I saw through a crack in the door that everything was bathed in red. Even though nothing happened yet, I started filling up with fear, and I could see Jacob slam closed his dictionary (which had a bookmark on his current page) and shouted, "Block the door!" I only had a single piece of wood, and with that I covered the door. Right after I did, I finally knew what Jacob meant earlier by "monsters."

A humanoid form started pounding on the door, but it wasn't human. It had sickly green skin, parts of it torn off and revealing rotting tissue beneath. One of its eyes was out of its' socket, barely attached to the head by a few veins. It had ragged and torn clothes, but the hair was still on its head, even if part of that was torn off. An arrow was right in the middle of its forehead, and its jaw was visible, the skin torn off.

I nearly vomited at the sight, even if the potion sickness faded. Many similar sights started appearing out of nowhere, going to join it in pounding on the door. In the sky, there were floating eyeballs, veins trailing behind them. I decided right then that tonight would be a sleepless night, as if I could fall asleep from behind so anxious, anyway.

I stepped away from the door, and looked at Jacob, hoping he could explain what was going on. He looked back, and I noticed that this was the first time that he wasn't smiling. "You can tell a Blood Moon is out when the sky turns red. There's something about it that causes monsters to swarm." He explained. "But it shouldn't be happening so soon…" He continued, fading off and looked like he was thinking hard about something.

I sighed, and lay down on the hard, wooden floor. I closed my eyes, hoping to get as much sleep as I could, even though I had a nagging sense in the back on my mind that the door was too weak to keep out the zombies. At least, I could only think they were zombies. Eventually, I heard Jacob go to sit on the chair I had made, and I could tell he fell asleep.

Soon, however, the pounding on the door started overlapping, and I could feel the grip of sleep. As my hold on reality faded, and everything started going numb, I thought that maybe I could have a good dream.

Sadly, my hopes were wrong.

((I decided to make this chapter longer than normal, and have more action than just stabbing a slime. Sorry for Chapter 2 being super short, but I hope this makes up for it. Thank you to all who take the time out of their day/night to read this, and, as always, constructive criticism (and just reviews in general) is always appreciated!))


	4. Chapter 4 - Nightmares

((Sorry for the long wait! It was hard for me to come up with an idea for the dream, but I did it! Hope ya like it!))

Chapter 4 - Nightmares

All around me was dark haze. I knew I was in a dream, but I wondered why it wasn't a lucid dream, in that sense. I felt fearful of something, and a sense that I was being watched. In my dream, not real life. I at least hoped that it wasn't real life. It was eerily silent, the kind that made you hope for any noise to stop it.

Of course, not the noise I heard. Through the haze, was a whisper I strained to hear, but then I wished I hadn't heard afterwards. _"So this is the so-called 'Hero?' I expected more. Know this now, that even the strongest of the strong, the most couragous of the brave, the most quick-witted of the wisest...Cannot defeat me. Neither can you, maggot."_ I couldn't describe the voice even if my life depended on it, but it sent chills down my spine. Just the sound resonated pure darkness and evil.

I suddenly felt all courage and strength in me dissapear all at once. I collapsed to the ground, my legs unwilling to give me any more support. _What?!_ I wanted to say, but no sound came out. My lips didn't even move. I could see the haze start to form, making a shape that loomed over me...Sadly, however, I couldn't see the shape, since at that moment, I heard the same whisper. _"Time to wake up..."_ Was the last I heard before I jerked awake, luckily still in my little house, Jacob on the chair, snoring away like no tomorrow, a little drool on the floor beside him.

I pondered wether or not to tell him about my dream as I got up off the floor, wincing from my bones complaining about the uncomfortable position I slept in. I looked to the door, and noticed all the monsters have just disapeared. The moon was setting, and I could see the glow the morning sun cast upon the land. The moon had lost it's bloodred glow, which was most likely why the monsters had gone, plus the sun rising.

I turned my head to Jacob, then at that moment, I thought something I wouldn't think in forever. _He looks a little cute..._ I quickly shook my head, blaming it on hormones, and went to wake him up. I put my hand on his shoulder, and then shook him roughly, startling him awake. "Get up!" I shouted in his ear.

He looked back and forth, in a daze, and I burst out laughing. "You need to see your face!" I managed to say between my laughs. It was true, he looked like deer in the headlights. He glared at me, "Not funny! I thought a zombie had gotten into the house or something!" he accused me, but I kept howling with laughter like a lunatic nonetheless.

Apparently my laughing is contagous, because before long, Jacob was starting to laugh as well. We soon stopped, however, since I needed to ask him a question (Yet again). "About last night, when the blood moon started, you said something along the lines of 'This shouldn't be happening now.' Why?" I asked inquisitively.

"The thing is, you have to first collect a heart crystal -which I'll explain those when you find one- in order for there to be a blood moon. It's not supposed to happen on your first night, otherwise. It even has me stumped." He answered, even though he sounded as though he was lying on the last part.

"Nothing really important you need to tell me? Anything at all? Besides the weirdness of the blood moon happening only last night." I decided I might as well see if he would at least mention the weird voice in my last last night. "There is something called the 'Corruption' which you will need to stop, but now isn't the time. First, we need to get you stronger. How about some swordplay training?" He didn't say anything else about the Corruption, whatever it was. Sounded pretty bad.

"Should I use that copper shortsword you gave me yesterday?" I asked, pretending to not be dwelling on thinking about the Corruption. He reached into his own magic pouch, and pulled out a nearly identical version of my shortsword. I did the same, with my pouch and shortsword. Clearly the answer was yes, as he headed straight outside, seeming like something else was on his mind, other than swordplay. I guess I wasn't alone in my train of thought.

We went on to behind the house, and I could see the sunrise through the thick forest, and I noticed there were some mountains far off in the distance. The orange glow spread over everything, and even the grass cast long shadows across the ground. It was a fairly large clearing, a few rocks and flowers dotting the ground here and there, surrounded by the lush forest I had woken up next to yesterday. Was it really only one day since then?

The grass was spongey beneath my sneakers, which had a weird-looking "S" on the outsides of them. Odd. I could see some green slimes in the forest, the occasional blue, but nothing of immediate threat. "Hello? Reality to Autumn!" I heard Jacob say as he waved his hand in front of my face. "Stop daydreaming. I was trying to explain that we should try to see your natural swordplay skills."

I sighed, "Fine. When do we start?" "Now!" Jacob lunged with his sword, and I easily dodged it. I quickly tried to hit him with the flat of my blade in the side of his rib cage, but he then leaped backwards, just enough to avoid being hit. He slashed at my arm, and I quickly retracted my arm towards my body.

It just kind of continued like that, the mixture of attacking and dodging, until we were both soaked and sweat and panting, neither of us with a scratch. We were equal matches, which surprised me, considering I had never done swordplay before, at least in my memory. Maybe I had, before? It was confusing to sort out, and it was almost noon.

"Do you perhaps have-" I panted, "-any water in that magical bag, do you?" I managed to say between breaths, ignoring the pant in the middle. "Uh, I think so" Jacob replied, reaching into his pouch, soon after pulling out a couple of glass bottles filled with water. I grabbed it, and greedily drank it all. jacob wasn't any better, and it seemed like we were racing each other to see who could finish theirs first.

Ended up with me winning, but only by a second. I put the now-empty bottle into my own pouch, deciding to tell Jacob the obvious, as we both had now regained our breaths. "So, it seems we're equals in swordplay." He responded with only a nod. "How about we go on to your first mining expedition, instead?" Jacob asked, and now it was my turn to nod.


	5. Chapter 5 - The Underground

((I'm going to try and make all my chapters at least 1k words long. Hopefully I can keep that goal! **Disclaimer: I do not own Terraria, but I do own my OC's**))

Chapter 5: Hearts, Skeletons, Slimes, Oh My!

"And where will we find a cave, just open on the surface?" I raised my eyebrow as I asked this to Jacob, who gave me the same look. "Why wouldn't they be like that? They're everywhere, almost." He replied with a shadow of a smirk. I sighed, "Lead the way, Captain Almighty!" I said, obvious sarcasm coating my words. "Well, I'm not very good with actual combat, and trust me, underground you'll be needing to fight." Jacob ended on a dark note.

"What was that we just did then?! You're as good as me, or I'm as good as you!" I accused him about the sword fighting we just did, from which I was still slightly tired. "That was training. I'm not good with _real_ fighting. As I said before, I'm just the Guide." "But- I-" I stammered, defeated. I groaned in annoyance. "Fine, you win. Anything I should know before I go?" I asked him, since he is, quote, "the Guide."

"You should take these." Is all he said as he reached into his pouch and took out a small, gold-rimmed mirror and a copper pickaxe. I knew what I'd need the pickaxe for, so I took that and put it in my pouch, but I just looked inquisitively at the mirror. Jacob explained to me, "Look into it when you need to come here, and poof, you're here! As long as you have the mana to use it, of course."

"Mana?" I knew I was delaying with all my questions, and the sun was already high in the sky, but I was very curious. Jacob squinted at me as if he couldn't believe that I didn't know it, and I mimicked his look to remind him that I didn't know crap about this place. "It's a person's magical energy. I, myself, don't have much, but all people have some. All people have enough to use the mirror, except maybe malevolent creatures, such as the ones you saw last night." Jacob explained further. "Okay..." I hesitantly took the mirror and stuck it in my pouch. "Well, bye!" I told him and waltzed off into the woods, heading towards the mountains I saw earlier in the distance.

I walked through the forest, and I admit it was really peaceful, with the occasional flower on my path, and dark, green grass with a hint of the quickly evaporating morning dew making everything feel spongy beneath my feet. The trees cast shadows down on the forest floor, with patches of sunlight and shadow everywhere I look. The only disturbance was the occasional wandering slime, which didn't even notice me. The only thing that could be wrong was there was no cave anywhere in sight, even if there was some stone on the surface.

By now the sun was over halfway down to sunset, and I realized that my stomach felt empty and my throat dry. I saw a small pond with crystal clear water nearby, and even though my common sense went against it, I went over and scooped some of the water in my hands in drank it. It was nice and chilly, and it banished the heat of the day as I drank. I watched the minnows dancing around the water after, and I realised that I didn't see what's beyond the pond yet.

I lifted my head, and rejoiced as I saw the gaping maw of a cave entrance. I smiled slightly, and took out my shortsword and pickaxe, holding the sword in my right hand and my pickaxe in my left. I then realized that daylight was not only starting to fade, but it didn't reach that far into the cave. I replaced my pickaxe with a torch, and ventured in.

My first few steps into the darkness weren't bad, just a nagging sense in the back of my head about what happened last night, with the Blood Moon. I could just feel in my subconscious the shift from day to night, and I didn't hear that same "The Blood Moon is rising"...thing that I heard last night. That didn't lessen the danger that much, however, since I soon knew what Jacob meant in how I'd need to know swordfighting when I went down here.

When I was far enough underground that I started seeing a few ores (which I mined) I heard a noise that sent shivers down my spine. It was like a deformed growl from behind me. I turned around, and I tried not to scream when I saw a walking skeleton. It had only rags on it, and even those had large, gaping holes in them. I slashed my sword at it's neck (or what would've been it's neck), attempting to decapitate it. I succeeded, but I didn't have long to celebrate it's skull falling to the floor, as the rest of it's body came after me.

It tried to grab at my neck (to suffocate me, probably) but I ducked and stabbed it through it's rib cage into the spine, bringing my sword up and splitting the top part of it's chest into half. It seemed to do the trick, as the skeleton just fell over and stopped moving. I then noticed my body was covered in a cold sweat, from fear. I didn't bother to do anything with it, and somehow it dropped a silver coin. I waved off how it even had one on it, and I stuffed it in my pouch with everything else. It felt like the single silver coin was actually three or four.

It was then, when I stopped moving, when I realized how tired I really was. The sword training was already tiring enough, then the walk, and my drink at the pond only restored my energy temporarily, and it didn't help my empty stomach, which was now complaining loudly. My muscles felt like gelatin, so I placed down my torch and sat next to it, my senses still on high alert.

The light of the torch caught something. It was like crystal. Despite my exhaustion, I rushed over and saw it was in the form of a comical heart. I felt like I needed to smash it with my pickaxe, so I just did the easy thing and smashed it. Immediately I heard a pleasant chiming noise, and the sound of breaking glass. All remains of the crystal heart vanished, except for a small version of it, which I picked up. As I made contact with it, it looked like it melted and absorbed into my palm, and I immediately felt stronger, and more whole, like a part of me was missing and was now returned. Maybe this was what Jacob meant earlier by a "crystal heart."

I decided that today I did enough mining, so as I was about to pull out my magic mirror, I felt a sudden weight on my back knock me over, and my sword was knocked out of my hand, sending flying across the stone towards a ledge I saw now that I was paying more attention to my surroundings. My back started to feel like acid was poured on it, and I could feel my skin start to sear. I cried out in pain, but I was defenseless, now that my sword fell over. The weight was too heavy for me to simply roll over and knock it off, so I couldn't think of anything to do.

Then, I realised my right hand and arm were still free, so I brought it up as much as I could and punched whatever was on my back. I felt gelatin, and my fist also started feeling like my back, because soon it was surrounded with gel. My left arm and hand were trapped under my body, so I tried to pull my fist out of what I could only guess was a slime. _But why would a slime try to attack me?_ I wondered as I successfully pulled out my fist, but my now my back was almost literally having the flesh seared away. My fist was mauled, the skin just barely hiding muscle, and I didn't even have it inside the slime that long, so I can't even picture how my back must look. I just knew that my shirt wasn't much protection.

Whatever strength I had gained from the crystal heart is gone now, I could see some skeletons in the distance, but then I remembered: The magic mirror! With newfound hope, I tried opening my pouch and reaching inside it, taking out the mirror. It hurt my hand to hold it, and now it was stained with black gel, probably a form of tough underground slime. And even more, this slime was huge! Inside the mirror, however, I could see my shack, the morning sun shining behind it and the mountains, the promise of safety, however temporary. I looked deep into the mirror, willing myself to be transported there, and I felt a lightening of my body as the mirror worked it's magic, and the slime was left behind in the cavern.

I let my arm drop, the magic mirror now working as a regular mirror, but I couldn't bring myself to look at my reflection. The soft grass and moist, chocolate dirt was just heaven to me, and my back, even though the pain was increasing with the sudden exposure to sunlight (luckily not as much as when the black slime was on it), it started to fade, and my grip on reality was fading. I heard Jacob shout in surprise, but it seemed like it was a mile away. I smiled in relief that I didn't die to a _slime_, and closed my eyes.

I blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Eye

((I'm on a roll, so here's another chapter in the same day!))

Chapter 6 - The Eye

When I awoke, I was on a small bed that I just barely fit, and my head felt fuzzy and weak. In the back of my mind, I was wondering when a bed got here, since I had never made one. I tried to get up, but then a searing pain in my back stopped me, and I cried out and fell back onto...Well, my back. It hurt falling onto it, but it was soft, and didn't very much hurt. Then everything came back to me in a storm, but my head still was fuzzy from just getting up from passing out, and my back hurt so much the only thing I could do was just blink in surprise. I tried moving my arms, and found it didn't hurt my back much. My ponytail was taken down, and I picked up a cluster of my messy hair (with my left hand, since my right was still a wreck). It turns out it was actually black until halfway down, when it shifted to blonde. It was also a lot longer than I thought, at least a foot. I dropped both my hair and my hand back on my stomach and sighed.

I wait there on the bed, the shack being empty, and I thought about maybe falling back asleep when someone in a nurses' outfit and has blonde hair tied back in a ponytail stepped in. She smiled gently at me, "You're awake. You were hurt pretty bad by that Mother Slime. You're pretty lucky you used your magic mirror-" her face darkened slightly, "-But you might not want to look into one for a few days, until you're fixed up." she ended.

"I'm Emily." She told me, "I'm the Nurse." I wondered if there were other nurses, and that's why she didn't say "I'm a nurse." I made a mental note to look in the mirror later. "I'm Autumn." I introduced myself, but she replied quickly, "I know, not many people don't." She added quickly, "And Jacob told me."

"Where's Jacob, then?" I asked Emily. "As you may not know, your shirt was very nearly destroyed by that slime, and I'm working on fixing it. Jacob is also a boy, and all you have on besides that blanket is just some bandages and linen." She answered. I immediately felt blood rush to my cheeks, but I just covered them with my blanket. "And where'd this bed come from, too?" I asked yet another question. "I had some spare silk, and made a bed. You're not the only one who can craft, you know." Emily replied bitterly.

"So, how is my shirt?" I asked, even though clearly Emily wasn't very good-tempered, at least now. She reached into her own pouch (it seems everyone here has their own magic pouch!) and pulled out my plain black shirt. But she turned it around, and it was only a few threads, which were probably from Emily. I thought about what Jacob said earlier about how everyone had a bit of mana, and I asked Emily, lowering the blanket from my face, "Could I see it for a moment?" Emily shrugged and handed it to me. I nodded thanks, and put my left hand on the back of the shirt. I concentrated and imagined it stitching itself together. To my surprise, it did it! Black thread came from nowhere in particular and started stitching it into the shirt, soon making it look like it was never torn apart.

But when I was finished, I felt an empty feeling, and common sense told me not to attempt to use mana again for a while. I looked up at Emily to see her gaping at how simply I did it, and I sat up, my back not hurting that much anymore, and prepared to slip it on. I was quickly stopped by Emily grabbing the shirt from me and telling me, "Don't do that! Your back may feel better, but it's not healed yet." I sighed and lay back down, pulling my blanket over myself again. The bandages actually did work quite like a shirt, and I wondered why Emily had said Jacob didn't want to be in here. I made a mental note to ask her later, and instead asked her, "How long was I out?"

"Most of the day." She answered simply. Wouldn't that mean night was coming soon? "And, also, since these bandages cover almost as much as my shirt, even without sleeves, then why would Jacob mind?" I asked her, and then I wondered where my jacket was. I was slightly relieved when I realized it was tied around my waist. Emily hesitated a moment before sighing and answering, "He-"

Emily was cut off as the sun set and I felt an eerie feeling, and I knew she could feel it, too. It was like an ominous feeling of being watched. She then got a look of terror, and shouted, "No! Not now!" She put her palm on her head and groaned loudly. "What? What is it?" I asked, not knowing what was going on.

She looked at me and handed me a potion, "Drink this. It's a greater healing potion. You never see them anymore, but you need it." I drank it all in one go, and I immediately felt my back and right hand healing up. I slipped on my shirt and jacket, and Emily tossed me a copper shortsword. It looked like Jacob's, but apparently now wasn't a time to ask questions.

"And to answer your previous question, about what's happening..." Emily looked at me in total seriousness. "The Eye." was all she said before I heard "_The Eye of Cthulhu has awoken!_" resonate through Terraria, and she yelled at me, "Hurry outside! And you better win!" and I had little choice but to run outside.

What I saw was a giant eye. It looked like one that was taken out of it's socket, with veins and gore trailing behind it, and veins all around the back. No zombies or other enemies were in sight. I looked up at it in horror, stunned by everything happening so fast, then I was jerked back into the present as it roared and charged at me. I dodged it to the side, stabbing it in it's "side" as it went by.

It came back up, and we repeated the exercise a few more times, and I had to kill a few of what looked like weak demon eyes, when it started floating into the air and spinning backwards rapidly, the front of the eye coming off bit by bit, starting with the pupil. When it stopped, the front was replaced with a gaping maw with razor-sharp teeth and it roared terribly, promising death.

It charged at me stronger than before, and I could barely avoid being impaled on it's teeth or swallowed in its mouth. I sprinted to the side, but not before getting a nasty slash at my side, I swore loudly as pain shot through my wound, and it looked at me, preparing to charge again. As it rushed towards me, I threw the sword, blade-first, into it's gullet. It looked stunned for a moment, then started quivering. It then exploded into chunks of meat that went flying everywhere, minor healing potions, some glowing purple ore, and a mix of gold and silver coins, with a couple copper coins.

I could see long shadows appearing from the trees, my house, the remains of the Eye, and myself. I could see my magic mirror near some trees, where I lay yesterday. The grass had some blood on it, same with the mirror, but otherwise no sign I was ever there. I picked up the mirror, since I was here already it worked like a regular mirror, and gazed at the reflection of my face.

That super healing potion wasn't very super after all. Even though the blood I'm sure was there is now gone, from the right side of my neck to my forehead, in a slash-like line, was a large area where the skin was seared away. I then wondered how I got it, since I didn't even think the slime even touched my face, but I remembered that some gel came off it and slid down where my scar is. The pupil on the right side of my face was white, where the scar crosses right on it. For some odd reason, however, I could still see from it. My left eye was sea green, however. I put the mirror in my pouch, and went to collect the loot from the Eye.

When I was done, I went to the end of the clearing and looked to the woods. Where was Jacob? Emily was about to tell me, but then the Eye came, but I might as well try again. I downed a minor healing potion that the Eye dropped to stop the bleeding in my side, and went back to the house.

((Ooh, what has happened to Jacob/the Guide?))


	7. Chapter 7 - War Axe of the Night

((Sorry for the delay, stuff in life happening. Shoutout to Sensei200 for all his support in this story!))

Chapter 7 - The Amazing Disappearing Guide, and Emily's Magic Band-Aids!

My side started hurting more and more as I half walked, half limped inside, where I was greeted by a hyperactive Emily knocking me down with a tight hug, which caused me to wince in pain. Didn't much help my side, but I decided to wait until Emily stopped, which wasn't long after. She smiled at me, then noticed my side, which had started looking nasty, and was hurting more and more, despite the minor healing potion I drank not very long ago.

If there's one thing I've noticed about Emily, it's that she has a lot of mood swings. She eyed me up and down, suddenly serious, and got up and started scavenging through her pouch, muttering under her breath. I got up and dusted off, careful to avoid accidentally hitting my side. Emily pulled out a roll of bandages, and held out her left hand, which was empty, and told me with a smirk, "I don't work for free, you know." I sighed, reached into my pouch, and pulled out a few of the silver coins I found earlier, which I placed into her empty hand.

She nodded once, put the coins in her pouch, and motioned for me to sit on the chair. I did so, she simply wrapped the bandages around my side, but I started feeling amazing afterwards, like I could take on the Eye again. Scratch that, like I could just take on that Mother Slime I nearly got killed by earlier. When I thought about it, it was funny how I got more injured by that slime than the Eye. Maybe because of the potion? I don't know.

When I got back to reality from my thoughts, I could see Emily eyeing the scar on my face, probably thinking about what she could do to heal it. "So, with no more interruptions by giant, carnivorous, flying eyes, where did Jacob go?" I asked her as casually as I could. She furrowed her eyebrows, and answered, "Well, he just...disapeared, soon after I came. Went outside, and didn't come back in."

I was stunned, and I had to take at least five minutes or so just to process it in, by then Emily was taking out more of her magical bandages and wrapping them around my scar. As she finished, I pushed myself up off the chair, and sped towards the crafting table. If I was going to survive, I'd need more than a simple copper shortsword. I kneeled over the crafting table, and this time, unlike yesterday, I didn't just smash ingredients together. I closed my eyes, and suddenly possibilities of what I could make flooded my sight, instead of just darkness.

I couldn't see many things, but I could see a forge on one part. I focused on that, and it suddenly disappeared, and when I opened my eyes, I stuck my hand in my pouch and knew it was there. This was a big upgrade from smashing things! I decided to place it right next to the crafting table, and as I took it from my pouch, it suddenly increased to my size. I was stunned for a moment, then just decided it was more the magic of Terraria, and did the same procedure with this as I did with the crafting bench, except not kneeling down to fit my size, and I could see everything I did before, except this time I saw some bars of a purple, pulsing dark metal, along with simple iron and copper below.

I decided to choose to smelt all of them. I could only make a couple of the iron and copper, but I made about 20 of the bars. I didn't see anything else, so I stepped to the side for the crafting table, when I could then see an anvil, and I selected to make it, since it was one of the few things I could see, besides a few weapons made of wood. I opened my eyes, and I placed it next to the forge.

I closed my eyes once more, and I saw many weapons made from the dark metal bar. I could see a thick axe, looking strong but heavy. A sword, quick and nimble, but not very large or as powerful as the axe. Finally, I could see an extravagantly crafted bow, which didn't seem very powerful, but it also seemed very fast. I decided to go with the war axe, seeing as it could not only function as a weapon, but as a regular axe, too. As I focused on it, all the weapons disappeared, and I could just feel that the axe was in my pouch. I opened my eyes, reached into my pouch, and pulled out the axe.

It was _huge_. It actually wasn't as heavy as it looked, I noticed as I weighed it in my right hand. I looked at Emily with a determined look on my face, "I _will_ find Jacob, wherever he's gone."

((Sorry this wasn't exactly 1,000 words, but I didn't want to delay the chapter any more. I hope it was good, and as always, reviews are appreciated))


	8. Chapter 8 - House Building for Dummies

((**Really sorry about the delay! Had a bad case of writer's block, and it's still kind of lingering so I'm really sorry if this chapter isn't the best. Also, I'm going to do my Author's Notes in bold from now on. Why? Why not. Also, wasn't yesterday the first day of June? But it's already the third of July! Wow, time flies...**

**PS: At the *, no "Where's Waldo?" references are intended. You'll know what I mean when you see it.**))

Chapter 8 – House Building for Dummies

I put the axe in my magic pouch (Even now, I'm still shocked at how such giant things can fit in it) and looked to Emily, who was sitting on the chair, looking at her hands and fiddling her thumbs, obviously either bored or not sure what she should be doing. I checked my pouch to see what I had this is what I could see, or sense, or feel, or _whatever_.

A copper pickaxe, the copper shortsword, a copper axe, my war axe (which I determined was named War Axe of the Night), some wood (which I'm surprised I haven't run out of yet), some acorns, and my magic mirror. Some coins, too. I decided that I might as well make a home for Emily, but as I thought about it, my stomach complained loudly. Oh yeah, I hadn't eaten in about...three days? I've been here that long?

Emily turned over to me, jumping a bit from not expecting the loud sound. She looked at me, and said, "Go eat a mushroom. There should be at least one outside, they're everywhere." I shrugged as I slipped on my jacket and headed outside, wondering if I'd like the taste of mushrooms. Almost as soon as I stepped outside, I saw a mushroom on the border between clearing and forest. Convenient.

I picked it up, and it looked clean enough to eat, but I'm not an expert. I popped it in my mouth, and it tasted...all right. I didn't hate it, at least, and it stopped me from being hungry. I looked behind me at the clearing, and the rising sun. Morning dew was on the grass and a light mist a bit above it. The last few stars of last night were still shining dimly in the grey sky and the sun was barely above the horizon. I could hear some cardinals chirping.

I took some wood out of my pouch, and headed next to the middle of the clearing, where my house was. I constructed a shack similar to it, or at least the outline, but then I ran out of wood. I groaned in annoyance, but it was bound to happen sometime. I still had one torch left, so I placed that on the wall, and then pulled out my regular copper axe to chop down a tree. I guess I could have used my war axe, but I used my copper axe nonetheless.

It was the scene from the first day: Cutting into the trunk a few times, the tree exploding into acorns and refined wood, and me, picking them up. I went to my house to use the crafting bench to craft a door, but when I walked in, Emily jumped up from her chair and came over to me. She was about half a head shorter than me, I noticed, as she took the bandages off my scar. Oh, I forgot that she put those on. She smiled at me, and told me, "Your scar is better." I looked in my magic mirror, which worked like a regular mirror now, and noticed she was right.

I smiled, "Magic bandages." I stated, before heading to the crafting bench, crafting a door, table, and chair, and heading to my outline of a shack, leaving Emily slightly confused. I dug out the dirt floor of the shack, and filled it in with wood. I placed a door at the entrance, then a chair and table along the wall. Good enough.

I walked outside, and decided that it was peaceful enough that I sat outside my newly-built shack, leaning against the front wall; not caring about the dew from the grass was getting on my pants. Even with the peace of morning, my head was still riddled with questions, the main one being "_Where's Jacob?" _*****

My question was soon answered. Suddenly, I felt an acorn hit the side of my head. I cried out in surprise, and looked where it came from. I was met with Jacob's piercing green eyes looking at me, then smirking and hiding behind the wall of the shack. I stormed up to him, grabbing his shirt collar and pushing him against the wall. "Where _were _you?!" I scream-asked him, then I couldn't help it. I hugged him, but only for a second, before stepping back and smiling at him, as he tried to process what just happened.

"I, uhm, had to go out for a little time by myself to think about something." Jacob stammered as I smirked at him. "Don't worry, I feel you. But seriously? You could have waited a while." I accused him. I noticed that he looked sad about something, but I didn't really know what. I decided not to ask him about it, at least not right now.

Actually, maybe I will, since it's getting pretty awkward just standing here. "You look upset about something. What is it?" I inquired. Jacob made a confused face (which looked fake), and replied, "What? I'm not upset! Even if I was, it wouldn't be your business. Anyway, you'll need to build another house, now that you defeated a powerful monster, the Dryad will come soon." I groaned. I just finished building a second house!

"Hold on, who's the Dryad?" I asked as I leaned against the side of the house I recently built. "Well, simply put, she's the keeper of purity and hallowed. Since you killed the Eye, she's probably going to come sometime today or tomorrow." Jacob replied. I sighed, "I guess I'll go after a slime or two for gel, first. Bye and…Uhm, I guess the term would be 'Welcome back.'"

I walked off towards the edge of the clearing, and it wasn't long before I found a green slime. I smiled as I pulled out my war axe, happy to test it out, and swung, and as I cut the slime nearly in half (if something gelatinous could be in half) and quickly hid behind a tree as it quivered and exploded into slime, with two or three pieces of gel left at the center, along with a couple of copper coins. I picked those up, and I took out a stick. Unlike last time, I wasn't excited about getting my hands burnt, so I just put one glob of gel on it. It lit up basically immediately, and, as I put it in my pouch, I noticed it either stopped burning, or the flame didn't affect anything inside it. Hmm, odd.

I had enough wood for a table, chair, and outline, but not enough for a floor or door (No rhyme intended.) Since I still had out my war axe, I decided I might as well use it instead of my copper axe. It only took about three swings, one less than the copper. The tree exploded, and I repeated what I did with the house I built earlier. By now, it was midday, a clear sky with no clouds, and a light coat of sweat started to form on me from the heat. A drastic difference from this morning, I noticed at I slipped off my jacket and tied it around my waist. I sighed, exhausted, but I didn't necessarily want to fall asleep, and not just because it wasn't night.

I noticed a squirrel dash in front of me, and several birds fly that way as they cried out in alarm. _Huh?_ _Maybe there's something that they like ahead._ Was what I thought, but I wasn't naïve enough to actually believe it. I turned around, and saw mountains on the horizon. They were slightly..purple? I'm not sure how that works, but I know they're purple. Odd. I made a mental note to ask Jacob about it later.

((**Changed the ending because I noticed how dumb it was to end on a "..." I won't update for a while because I'm heading to summer camp for a week. And, as always, reviews are appreciated! Oh, and I was thinking I might make this into a trilogy thing. Tell me what you think about it! Have a nice day :)**))


	9. Chapter 9 - Terraria's Past

((**Hey, everyone! I'm back! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Oh, and I use a bit of Latin in this chapter. It's "tenebrarum," which translates to "darkness," and "lucem," which translates to "light." I thought I'd tell y'all to be helpful! :) And I got the idea for the "Interlude" from Sensei200's fanfic, "A hero's game" (which is awesome.) Sorry for the long A/N!**))

Chapter 9 – The Dryad and the Past

I turned away from the mountains and, after casting a backwards glance behind me at the purple-ness, casually walked towards the third house I recently built. As I opened the thin, wooden door, I looked inside, expecting to find an empty room to just sit for a while. Instead, it was occupied by a tall, thin girl with bright, lime green hair that was tied behind her in a long braid. Most of her outfit was made up of vines, with the occasional flower or leaf. Her skin was tan, while her eyes were a deep hazel color. "Uhm, who're you?" I stuttered.

"I am Ariella, the Dryad. I trust you are Autumn?" The girl replied. I noticed she didn't use any contractions when the spoke immediately. I smiled slightly and stepped from behind the door, nodding while telling her, "Yup, that's me. So you're Ariella? Nice to meet you." I held out my hand, stepping towards where she sat. Ariella stood, and accepted my handshake. After a few moments we let go of our hands, and then an awkward silence happened where neither of us knew what to say.

"So, you're the Dryad, and you know about, like, the Corruption or what's-it-called, and stuff?" I broke the silence. Ariella nodded. "Yes. What do you need to know about it?" I thought for a moment before asking, "Erm, is it purple-ish colored?" Ariella made an intrigued face as she answered, "Yes, why do you ask?" "Well...I think there's some on some nearby mountains, then..." I rubbed the back of my neck.

Ariella looked grim. She muttered something under her breath, and I caught "Why so soon...?" among the things she said. I raised an eyebrow, "Huh?" I inquired. "Nothing, nothing." She waved my indirect question off, looking off to the side, pinching the bridge of her nose. "All right. Can you at least tell me about the Corruption, then?" Ariella looked back at me, not pinching her nose anymore, and signaled with her hand for me to sit on the chair, which I did. She reached into her own pouch and pulled out another chair, placing it on the other side of the table, and sitting on it, crossing her legs.

Ariella made a face that showed she was obviously thinking hard about something. "I do not know exactly how to start this off, but I will try to explain the best I can. So, a long time ago -_very_ long, might I add- Terraria was a land of peace and prosperity. Many people lived here and had long, happy lives. There were two spirits who were basically a yin-yang and governed the island. The spirit of Light, and the spirit of Dark. Both equal. But, the spirit of Dark started falling into insanity. I am not sure, myself, how a god becomes insane, but it happened. People actually believed, however, that the god of Dark was made to be insane by a greater force. The spirit of Dark made the Corruption in a small portion of the island. No one noticed it, but it spread rapidly, and soon enough, people started to fall under a mysterious, deadly illness whenever they were near it. Soon enough, the spirit of Light noticed this, and created the Hallow to battle the Corruption. It had the same spreading nature, but it was goodness and light, unlike the darkness of the Corruption."

Ariella stopped to take a breath before continuing, while I listened intently. "The demons in the Corruption overpowered those of the Hallow, and by now many of the people were either dying or dead. The Corruption took over all but a small portion of the island, that small portion was the Hallow. The spirit of Light saw its inevitable downfall, and was forced to make a creature of the dark to seal away both it and the spirit of Dark. As it did this, almost all of the Corruption, and all of the Hallow, was sealed away with them. The ones who were ill were cured, as well. Now this wasn't that long ago. Left behind, however, was a prophetic-like message from the spirit of Light. It simply stated 'At dawn the hero will rise, yet at midnight the choice of Light or Dark must be made.'" Ariella leaned back in her chair, obviously seeing how I'll take the history lesson.

Then I thought about it a bit more, "Hang on wait what?" I stuttered at last._ But I awoke at dawn, even if it was late dawn._ I thought, leaning back in the chair and putting my palm on my face as I did so, closing my eyes. "But I awoke at dawn, even if it was late dawn…" I told Ariella what was on my mind at the moment. I opened my left eye slightly and saw Ariella nodding. Taking my hand off my face, opening my eyes, and returning to a regular sitting position, I asked, "Does that mean I'm 'the hero'?" Ariella shrugged, "Maybe, probably, maybe not. Only time will tell." I groaned, "Well, what do I do, then?"

Ariella thought for a moment, "Terraria is only 7% corrupt, but you won't be able to deal with it all until- I mean, for a long time." I raised an eyebrow, "Until what?" Ariella looked at me, "You will find out soon enough, but you will wish you had not found out." Ariella ended on a dark note. I sighed, "Well, why can't you tell me now?" I questioned her. Ariella ignored this question, so I went ahead and asked her about Terraria's past.

"You said, in the history lesson, that some people believed that the spirit of Dark grew insane by a force greater than it. Can you give me more information about that?" Ariella thought for a moment, then answered, "A few people did not believe that the god of Dark grew insane on its own. Instead, they believed there was a dark god greater than both it and the god of Light named Tenebrarum. They also believed it had a counterpart of true light, too, named Lucem. They believed Lucem was basically the sun and stars, while Tenebrarum was the Underworld." I thought about this for a moment, "What's the Underworld?" I asked. Ariella's face grew grim, and she replied, "It's a place you will not visit, at least anytime soon."

_Interlude:_

_ The moon was high in the sky, the stars shining dimly. The ruins of what appeared to be a village was down in the clearing below, in the center being a few shacks, but the buildings became more and more extravagant as they went away from the center. But, the clearing was overrun with death. Blood, both red and green, was on the ground. A heavily wounded, young teen stood in the center of it all. They were obviously a girl, and she wore moonlight silver robes, with a hood that shadowed her face and made her eyes glow a bright teal color. She held a magical harp in her left hand, her right hand ready to pull the strings. Slung over her shoulder was a simple, brown pouch with a leather strap, while angel wings were on her back. Darkness was everywhere, no light in sight, except from the little given from the moon and stars, which even that was fading…_

_Interlude End._

"Well, thank you for the information about Terraria, but I probably should be going. It was nice meeting you!" I stood and told Ariella my goodbyes, and left the shack to go think about all this new information.


	10. Chapter 10 - The Corruption

((**I am so sorry for the long delay ;-; I'm bad at putting ideas into words, especially with this chapter xD I hope you like it!**))

Chapter 10 – The Corruption

After that meeting, I decided that maybe it would be time to visit the underground again to get some ores. I went over to the same cave I went to last time, and didn't have any trouble with monsters, thanks to my new axe. Eventually, once got a lot of ore of several types, and a few crystal hearts, I decided it might be a good idea to go ahead to use my magic mirror to return home. I got teleported beside my bed, unlike last time when I came outside the clearing. I could hear zombies pounding on the door, but they weren't breaking it. Emily was sleeping on the chair, her head leaning on the table, resting on her arm.

I walked over to the furnace first, exhausted but not wanting to fall asleep. I smelted the ores into: ten iron bars, fifteen copper bars, fifty-five silver bars, ten gold bars, and eight rubies. I was near my anvil, so I could see many options for weapons and armor. I could see a cool-looking chest-plate and leggings/shoes made of silver, so I made those, but I didn't have enough for a helmet. I made an iron pickaxe, and a copper bow. There was also this gold staff-like item that had the head of a large ruby. _Why not?_ I thought as I decided to craft that as well. I smiled slightly, happy because of the new pieces of armor, and the golden staff (that I put in my pouch), but I felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion.

I slipped on the armor, and slung the bow across my back. I sat on my bed and combed my hair with my fingers, and braided it, trying to find something to preoccupy my mind. After braiding it about five times, I leaned back against the wall, still sitting on my bed, and thought about what Ariella told me earlier. She told me that the people who were ill were cured, so that must mean there are survivors, so does that mean that Emily, Jacob, and Ariella were around during that time? I sighed, and leaned my head against the wall to where I was looking up at the ceiling. It couldn't hurt to just take a quick nap, right? I closed my eyes and immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

When I awoke, it was still early dawn, the sun barely above the horizon. I yawned, stretching as I got up from where I sat. The zombies and demon eyes disappeared from outside (beats me to where they went). I yawned, still tired. I think I slept for three hours, at the most...Oh, well. I stood, passing Emily on my way out, who was still asleep. The scene outside was like yesterday; a light mist on the ground, dew covering the grass with a grey sky, trees surrounding the clearing with mountains in the distance, with a nice, cool wind.

I leaned against the wall outside the house, thinking more about what Ariella told me. If I happened to be that "prophetic hero," I'd obviously choose the side of light, the good side. ...Right? I sighed and shook my head. Too much to think about right now. My thoughts were interrupted as I felt an acorn hit the side of my head. I cried out in surprise, and rubbed where it hit, looking to the side. Of course, Jacob stood there with a handful of acorns and a smirk.

I grinned, and smacked his hand, making acorns fly everywhere, several hitting him on the head. "Nice armor." Jacob stated afterwards. "Thanks. Hey, do you have any idea what I could do next? I just finished mining, as you can obviously see." I asked him. "Uhm, I guess your next step would be to explore the corrupt chasms. Find and destroy any shadow orb you find." I nodded, and then looked at the corruption in the distance.

"How long do you think it would take to get there on foot?" I inquired. "It might take three hours, maybe four. Wait, you're going right now?" Jacob asked. "Yup. I'll use my magic mirror if there's trouble, don't worry." I started off towards the distant corruption, "See ya later!" I turned for a moment to wave goodbye, seeing Jacob wave as well, albeit hesitantly.

I walked through the woods, seeing nothing much except for the occasional slime or stream, which I took small drinks from. Soon enough, the mountains kept getting taller and wider in perspective as I neared them, and the forest started thinning. By now the sun was high in the sky, and I was sweating a little. It wasn't long after when I reached about half a mile away from the mountains, when the Corruption started. The forest had almost completely stopped, but there were a few still standing. I took a deep breath, and turned my head to look at the Corruption.

Everything was dead. Thorns rose from the ground and formed tall bushes, there was the occasional chasm of dark purple stone, and the air stunk of rot. There were some trees, but those were dead as well. I gagged, and took out my war axe. A few strange...gray-purple flying things, with one huge eye, small tentacle-like things from the sides of them, and giant mandibles...were flying out of the chasms. The land didn't actually look purple up close, more of a gray that was a shade to look like purple.

I was sure of one thing: I did _not_ like it here. A couple of the flying creatures flew towards me, to which I answered with a few swings of my war axe. They left behind some coins, and a hunk of rotten meat. Gross. I stepped on the corrupted ground, but I instantly felt ill. I gripped my stomach, feeling like I was about to vomit. I swallowed, and kept walking, gripping my axe so tight that my fingers turned almost white. Right now, there didn't seem to be many of the flying things, so I hesitantly approached the nearest chasm.

It didn't look _too_ deep, and it didn't seem like there were any shadow orbs up here. Then I thought; _What does a shadow orb even look like?_ I shrugged off the question, thinking that I would know one when I see one. I leaped in feet-first, but when I hit the ground at the bottom, I cried out in pain, and gripped my foot. I _really _hate gravity sometimes. Down here there were a lot more of the flying creatures. I swung at those directly to my front, but I felt a sharp pain on my right calf. I grit my teeth and made a sounds that sounded like a scream quieted down –not even I know exactly- and looked down to find one of the flying things gripping it with its' mandibles, blood spilling from it. Immediately, I swung my axe down at it, killing it in one blow, unlike all the others.

After that, there didn't seem to be any more, at least as far as I can see. I examined my calf, and silently swore. It probably wasn't as major as it could have been, but it was still not pretty. The sides near my ankle were bitten, and blood kept coming from them. I downed a minor healing potion from my pouch to see if it would heal it. My skin went over the wound, but I couldn't see if any of the internal damage was healed. It felt a lot better, at least.

I straightened up, and scanned my immediate area. It was a long, thin chasm with even more smaller chasms going further down, and I could see more sunlight spots from the parts open to the sky. Right outside of the sunlight spot I was in was an orb-like thing. It looked like pure shadow, condensed into a form. I could see a couple more not too far from it,and a couple of pots next to the one closest to me. I swung my axe to break the pots, and they dropped three bombs. Convenient. I held one of the bombs in my left hand, the war axe in my right. The other two bombs were attached to the leather strap of my pouch, ready to be used at any time.

The only bad part was how I don't know how to light the wick of the bomb. "Erm, light up please?" I muttered under my breath, while imagining the end of the wick lighting itself with a spark. My plan was to throw the bomb at the shadow orb and hope that it works in destroying it. The end of the wick suddenly burst into flame. It worked! How, I didn't know. It was just the magic of Terraria. As suddenly as I noticed the light from the flame, I tossed the bomb almost underneath the shadow orb; the best aim I had. Soon after, it exploded into smoke.

Immediately, I felt a sharp shiver go down my spine, making me feel ill. I coughed loudly a couple of times from the smoke. Once the smoke cleared, however, a musket along with a few bullets lay in the hole in the ground that was left by the bomb. I picked up the musket and the bullets, and put them in my pouch. The musket seemed so unreal, I noticed. I lit a second bomb the same way as I did the first, without my muttering this time, and threw it at the second shadow orb, still not leaving the patch of sunlight. I didn't feel safe in the dark.

The bomb blew up, and as soon as it did, I could hear screaming around me. I quickly covered my ears, but it didn't stop it. As soon as it had started, however, it stopped. Going over through the dark to grab whatever the orb left behind was _terrifying_, even if I sprinted back to the sunlight once I grabbed the remains. It was a staff-like object, with thorns running down the side. It was grey-green in color, and the shape reminded me of my ruby and gold staff, without the ruby at the top. After putting it in my pouch, I got my last bomb ready, and threw it at the last shadow orb in my sight, against a feeling I had to not do it.

I heard a load roar coming from beneath the stone, and the ground started to shake. I couldn't keep my balance, so I had to fall to my knees, with my empty left hand helping to keep what little balance I had, my right holding my war axe still. A booming voice was heard in my head; "**The Eater of Worlds has awoken!**"


End file.
